1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of sexual devices used by both males and females for the purpose of sexual auto-stimulation. In particular, the invention relates to mechanical devices adapted to transmit rotary energy into both rotary and reciprocating linear activation for the purpose of masturbation and/or stimulation of one's partner during sexual play.
Various known devices for stimulating the female genitalia have been developed for the purpose of providing sexual gratification and climax during sexual intercourse, foreplay, and masturbation. Generally, they are used for personal pleasure and recreation by providing the user healthy sexual outlets. They are sometimes used in combination with sex-therapy programs. The sexual devices can provide the user an opportunity for sexual exploration and development, alleviate fears and anxiety about sexual performance, aid in the development of one's sensual capacities, and even facilitate verbal, emotional and sexual communication between sex partners. The most common form of such device is the vibrator, which operates by applying pressure, friction, and vibration to the clitoral region, walls of the vagina and/or external areas of the genitalia.
There are far fewer devices available for male auto-stimulation. These are principally soft elastomer sleeves into which the penis is inserted and manually massaged.
2. Description of the Background Art
The need and demand for products used for sexual self-satisfaction and/or to increase satisfaction between couples, be they heterosexual or homosexual, can be illustrated by the plethora of product offerings filling sex shops and adult stores, and orderable online from literally thousands of Internet retailers.
A routine search on a popular search engine was conducted to search the Internet for the single term “sex toys” in quotes (so as not to get hits related to either “sex” OR “toys” by itself) and got 800,000 hits. For comparison purposes, the term “sleeping bag” returned 363,000 hits, and “bowling ball” returned a paltry 93,000. A survey of the first five pages (50 hits) was conducted to see how many of the hits were retailers as opposed to other types of sites. 42 of the first 50 hits (84%) were sites selling sex toys. If these 50 sites can be taken as representative of the rest, then there may be as many as 672,000 sites where something inanimate can be purchased to stimulate and/or enhance sexual pleasure. An estimated half of these sites are in North America. Clearly, there is a large demand, and a large supply, of devices for use in sexual stimulation.
One not so subtle site lists the sales volume of their 300 bestsellers over a reported two-month period in 2002. In the top spot is the “Ravenous Rabit”, a purple dildo/vibrator for her that sold 1063 units at $34.00. In 300th position was the Bullfighter Pump, a vacuum penis pump operated by a hand-held squeezable bulb, which sold 48 units at $27.00. The full product catalog lists over 2100 products ranging in price from $5890.00 for a life-like silicon love doll with all the appropriate lovemaking equipment to a $4.00 edible condom.
When one multiplies the reported unit volume by the unit price for just the 300 purported top sellers at the “Sextoys” site, we find a sales volume of just over $US700,000.00. And this is for only a reported two months of sales by a single online retailer, who apparently has another 1800 products whose sales were not reported.
Of course, not all sex products for sale are devices. Many are lotions and lubricants, condoms, lingerie, and other sexual paraphernalia. Of those that can be considered auto-erotic stimulating devices, many or most are hand held and or operated. These include silicon and other soft plastic elastomer sleeves for penile stimulation and many non-operating penis substitutes intended for vaginal and rectal insertion. Those that actually provide some form of mechanical stimulation usually do so with small internal motors generating predominantly vibratory action operating on two, three or four AA or AAA batteries. Like their un-powered cousins, the user is expected to impart most of the intercourse simulating motion.
There are a few dildos that claim linear thrusting in the head of the device but, to the extent these claims are true, this action is not a close intercourse simulation. We claim there are very few natural penises so talented as to alternatively grow and shrink in length to any substantive degree while inserted in a vagina.
For both men and women, what is required to simulate the act of copulation involves rather long strokes of the entire device that terminate near full insertion. This is not to suggest that other forms of stimulation like vibration and rotation are not also appropriate for auto-stimulation, but simply to point out that they have not routinely been a part of one-on-one human sexual contact over our evolutionary history and therefore not the first choice from the menu.
These mass-marketed devices retail from as little as ten dollars for a simple small vibrator up into the sixty to eighty dollar range for more sophisticated machines. They are almost without exception less than $100 in America. Overall, they may be characterized as cheap, fragile, underpowered, gender specific, single action, often unhygienic when badly insulated internal electrical components prevent proper washing by means of submersion, unserviceable by the user, and disappointingly unsatisfying sexually. No sexual partner need worry about losing their mate's affection to any of these machines.
The background paragraph of U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,929, issued to Padgett in November of 2000, states, “There exists a need for a cheap, effective, safe, private, disease free, non impregnating, and natural like way for a woman to achieve sexual gratification with a sexual stimulation apparatus.” While this may be correct, the statement's applicability ought to be extended to the males of our species as well. A machine very similar to the one described by Padgett is currently being marketed. It is called the “Jetaime”, and can be found on the Internet at (http://wwwjetaime.to/jetaime.htm). Unfortunately the quoted price of this machine as of this writing is $US1195.00, hardly inexpensive and not readily available for every would-be self-satisfier.
There is another class of machines more capable of simulating intercourse. These are known colloquially but rather descriptively as ‘the fucking machines’. Most of these machines do have long and adjustable stroke length and many are featured on the manufacturer's Internet Website. Their actions are derived by numerous methods including pneumatic, hydraulic, and mechanical. We mentioned the Jetaime and its price earlier. One manufacturer in Texas called TFM manufacturers sells nine different machines. For the least expensive ‘Mini Custom TFM’ prices begin at $US650.00. Pricing on the most expensive machine begins at $1700 with most of the machines in the $1000 to $1400 range. Prices begin here because like all the other manufacturers of these devices, this one custom manufactures each machine by hand to the happy owner's specifications.
There are two machines that reportedly are very popular. The Sybian is a machine designed for females that the woman sits atop and is penetrated by a mechanically actuated dildo. Two motors provide differing action; one vibration and a second a peculiar form of rotation. The dildo doesn't actually revolve within the user but the top sweeps through a circular arc while the base remains stationary. The inventors (Abco Research Associates) self-report on their website manufacturing and selling ‘hundreds’ of Sybians at $1400 since 1987. This is one of the few dual-action machines presently available.
A second product for male users is sold by Abco Research. It is called the Venus and is a patented device (U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,650 issued to Gellert in March 1996). This device is a pneumatically operated penile sleeve. A reciprocating pump causes the air pressure on the outside of the sleeve to rise and fall so that the sleeve moves up and down on the penis of the user. The Venus 2000 receives glowing reviews, but sells for $955 and is once again single action, and is of course gender specific.
Inventive minds have been hard at work building machines that provide sexual release. Nevertheless, we characterize this second collection of Sow volume custom built machines as large, heavy, cumbersome, expensive, powerful, often noisy, gender specific, generally unserviceable by unskilled user, single action, unhygienic, and in many cases plainly dangerous.
A third class of machines are those that were not sexual stimulation devices by design, but are instead machines built for other purposes and put to novel use. The “Fucksall” is simply a reciprocating saw found in many home workshops to which a dildo is attached. These machines typically provide about two inches or less of stroke. In another innovative twist, the “Drilldo” is simply a dildo attachment device with a ¼ inch hex drive on the back such that the user can attach an electric drill or other rotary energy source thereby causing the dildo to rotate inside the male or female orifice of preference. Any linear stroke must be manually provided by the user.
The attachment mechanism used on the Drilldo to connect to the dildo is not unique to this device. The adapter is an industry standard connection called the Vac-U-Loc that fits an entire line of dildos offered by Doc Johnson (Health Devices Corp. doing business as), one of the largest manufacturers of sexual devices. The fact that this prominent manufacturer maintains this line of products, which are functional only when connected to another device, suggests that there are a large number of various sexual devices to which these stimulation devices might be attached.
The Drilldo and a few similar items do provide rotational stimulation, which users appear to find satisfying despite the absence of such stimulation during normal person-on-person sexual contact over our evolutionary development. In fact this type of stimulation is difficult to attain between two sexual partners.
Once again, inventive minds have worked on this articulation problem. The “sex swing” (18,200 internet hits) offers the standard answer. One website offers six different models all from different manufacturers. The swings are either supported from the ceiling or some other overhead structure or may be purchased with purpose-designed and marketed freestanding frames. They provide for one sexual partner to be suspended in slings of various designs attached to the overhead structure by spring or bungee cords. While there are many sexual positions suggested as effective for use with swings, there is only one practical one in which rotational stimulation (in conjunction with linear thrust afforded by the springs or bungee) is possible. This of course is with one partner suspended directly above the other where the suspended partner can be freely rotated. Swings themselves are modestly priced ($100 to $250) as sophisticated sexual aids go, but they are difficult to set up, get suspended in, and put away out of the children and neighbors' sight. There is the added danger in the aforementioned configuration that an equipment failure, ceiling or ceiling attachment failure, or a simple slip by the suspended partner within the sling might end the session with catastrophic consequences. Swings are an extreme measure to resort to in order to experience simultaneous insertion and rotation.
For all these reasons there exists a need for a device that provides both rotary and linear reciprocating activation of sexual devices used by both males and females for the purpose of sexual stimulation. Such a device would be desirable only if it could be convenient, simple and safe, easy to handle, light and small, yet powerful and still be modestly priced, rugged, reliable and satisfying.